New multi-space meters coming to South Side

The new look of new multi-space parking meters slated for South Side and several other city neighborhoods. The new meters will require drivers to enter in their license plate numbers to register their time.

The Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh (PPAP) has selected Cale America Inc., to upgrade its parking meter system.

The new program will introduce pay-by-license plate technology which Cale has successfully implemented in cities such as Calgary and Amsterdam. The new multi-space meters will replace 3,000 single-space meters in parts of South Side, Downtown, Oakland and the Strip District.

Customers will have to enter their vehicle license plate number at a solar-charged multi-space meter and the new system will inform parking enforcement staff which vehicles are paid in real time. The new meters will be able to accept credit cards and quarters, but not paper bills. A cell phone payment option will also be offered, in the near future as an additional convenience.

"We selected the vendor that offered the most advantageous product on the best terms," commented David Onorato, executive director for the PPAP. "Cale demonstrated that it can not only provide the right technology, but they also have an excellent track record of implementing successful parking programs throughout the US, Canada and Europe. Their thorough approach and commitment to local project support is refreshing and gives us great confidence that Pittsburgh will have one of the best parking programs in the world."

Motorists should start seeing the new multi-space meters in July and August.

Additionally, Cale will be setting up a local facility to handle secondary assembly of the meters, plus programming and testing – work that is normally handled in its Montreal or Tampa locations– to help meet the MWBE goals of the PPAP and City and to expedite the delivery and installation of the new meters.

Anthony Boule from the Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh will be at the South Side Planning Forum meeting, today, June 12, to outline how the new multi-space parking meters will work in South Side.